Hy everyone
I’m a tech enthiast, full time developer and looking a long time to enter in the 3D printer world.
I have been search recenlty for some sugestions on the internet, and looking the options available in my country, mostly on a local aliexpress warehouse (to avoid some unpredictable tax).
I saw some Core XY from Tronxy I saw a lot of Ender 3 and it variants (V2, S1 pro) I saw some SLA (This one i’m a litte scared beacuse of toxity of the material, is that bad ? Like print something to touch for some time) I saw a Fysetech prusa mk3 clone that i discard after watch some bad reviews from long time users I saw the sovol s06 and the sovol s07
All I look will be close to ~500/600 usd in a local wharehose.
The ender 3 v2 will be a littble bit less, and some s1 plus will be a little bit more that that.
My usage will be to make some improvements for my work setup, something that i need in home, some addons for my switch, some charctaers to put on my desk, nothing commercial or that dependes of perfections.
Looks like that the Core XY it’s on trend right now, but I think maybe it’s too much for starts with.
I tend for the sovol s07 right, but i confess that the v roller wheels looks a cheap economy
But what do you guys think about thoes options ? Maybe await to check the neptune 4 ? Worth to buy a cheap printer and made some upgrades ? Like buy a Sovol S06 and put a Klipper by myself later ?
Starting out, can’t go wrong with an ender 3 V2 (or s1). We have 3 of them running at work and they are reliable, easy to work on, and produce solid parts. Extra parts are easy to get and are plenty cheap. There’s a huge community around them. Overall, excellent starting printer. You’ll definitely want to toss an autoleveling kit on there. The only real downsides are it doesn’t print higher end materials well (honestly through, PLA is fine for most use cases), and it’s super slow. Dear god it takes forever to print.
If you want to spend a bit more, the p1p is a no fuss printer from Bambu Labs. We also have 3 of their top tier model at work and can’t say enough good things about them.
I don’t recommend upgrading printers. It can get expensive fast and the tuning becomes endless. The p1p is such a good value that buying a printer with the intent to mod it is hard to justify. Just spend a bit more to get a better, more reliable printer up front.
I would recommend the sovol sv06, it’s a great beginner printer at its price! Either that, or a Neptune 3 Pro
I would probably avoid creality’s Ender 3 series, nowadays it’s overpriced compared to other, better printers on the market. Unless you can find them for around $100~ as the other person mentioned, I probably wouldn’t buy one
SV07 is still new, it’s both an upgrade and a downgrade to the SV06. I would suggest that if you want klipper, an sv06 and an orange pi (or thin client) with kiauh may be the better option.
Haven’t heard much about the Neptune 4 besides it being a Neptune 3 pro with klipper and a big cooling fan
Tronxys Corexy machines are usually regarded as tinkerers machines. They are alright out of the box, but you can do many upgrades to make them so much better
An Ender 3 or similar clone would be a great start. There is a reason they get recommended so much. They are fantastic to learn on, have tons of community support, and can be incrementally upgraded to be a very excellent all arounder. Really, as enticing as others can be, go with the ender or one of its clones. I got a voxellab s3 and I love it but it’s got some pain that I wish weren’t there.
I went with BambuLabs and couldn’t be happier. As a total noob with a healthy budget for a new hobby I wanted something that I could use more often than I had to tinker with it, and it fit the bill nicely. (Don’t get me wrong, plenty of tinkering has still been required lol)
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The Ender 3 S1 Pro is pretty popular at my store right now, I’ve put together a few of them and as long as you check to make sure the gantry is level with the frame and that all the wheels are tightened correctly, it prints pretty solid. If you can get a really good deal on a Ender 3 Pro or Ender 3 V2 though, they’re still not bad either and there are tons of guides on how to mod and upgrade the machines. And if you have a Pi or SBC lying around, definitely give Klipper a shot once you’re used to the machine a bit, I put it on all my machines when possible now.
I got a Voxelab Aquila X2 for <200. With a few upgrades it works like a champ for prototyping. For more high quality parts I’d go with something else but I mainly print functional stuff and projects and its more than enough
I recommend the $99 Ender 3 that Microcenter (and other retailers) have frequently.
Like just the base Ender 3? Not the V2 or the Neo? Looking at prices the Neo seems to be about $30 more but the improvements in the gear are well worth it. Plastic -> metal extruder, BL Touch (Which is like $40 by itself), and a much nicer build plate.
I haven’t looked at prices in a while, but when Microcenter offers the Ender 3 Pro for $99, the V2 and Neo are more than double the price.
The most important question you must answer is if you want to make/print things, or if you want to add 3D printer building & coding as a hobby.
If your intent is the latter, then the other comments have you covered. If the former is your goal, break out your wallet and order an assembled Prusa Mk4 ($1100 plus shipping, customs). Put it in a convenient location with moderate ventilation and good thermal stability and print everything in either PLA+ or PETg. I’ve been through two “cheap” printers and know more about tweaks, firmware, and upgrades than I ever wanted to. I’m tired of having printer maintenance as a hobby and, personally, have a Prusa on preorder.
Alternates for plug-and-play: I have a friend with a Qidi Tech printer from 3 years ago and he does nothing but print Etsy stuff. No tweaking and he loves it. Also, people who have the Bambu P1P and X1 seem to love them. In fact they love them so much they can’t shut up about them. Probably both are good choices for Just Printing and they’re in the $700 range. In all cases you’ll still have to learn the intricacies of slicing and, for custom parts, modeling, but at least you won’t be fighting with your printer.
I think any of the Ender 3 variations would be a good choice. Lots of parts availability and a big online community to help you should you need it.
